Into the Blackness
by ChorusGirl
Summary: In force after life, Anakin Skywalker now his former self, leaves purgatory on a search to find Palpatine in hell. Palpatine wants revenge against Vader. Anakin wants revenge against him. Padme wants him in heaven.
1. Chapter 1

In the scorching hot depths of hell Palpatine the Emperor waited. This was his eternity. _Darkness._ He once loved the darkness. But the heat... the sweltering heat… Fire singed his lungs. This was probably only a tenth of what it was like to be Anakin on that lava bank on Mustafar.

For Palpatine, there was nothing to do in hell except brood. He would brood over the missed opportunities. The fact that he trusted Vader and just as he foresaw his second-in-command would betray him for the boy, Luke Skywalker -- life of the New Jedi Order. Someone he detested with every fiber of what used to be his being now rebuilt what he'd so tactfully destroyed. Everything he used to facilitate Anakin's fall did the opposite for Luke. Love… passion, devotion. These were things Anakin felt at one time for him – their friendship. What he felt for his pathetic senator wife -- Padme and their unborn children.

Love was once his undoing and now it had been used to save him.

What does one do with endless time? Create disturbances outside of the spiritual realm? But how? How would one implement acts of revenge upon the living – more specifically, acts of revenge upon the ones who sent him to this tortuous place?

As he understood it there were three levels of the spiritual afterlife. Force heaven, Force hell, and Force purgatory. He'd not seen Anakin in Force hell. Or else he would feel him. After all, his powers remained. He could even use sith lightening in Force hell. Anakin certainly was unworthy of heaven. Did he wait in Force purgatory?

If he crossed paths with Vader in the after life their meeting would be unpleasant. In the mean time he hoped Anakin suffered for the ultimate breach of Sithdom. LOVE. No Sith should ever be capable of it. Before Luke, he thought he sufficiently killed what was left of the boy's spirit. But Anakin somehow found himself capable of loving Luke after all those years. After all the wars, the battles, the murders...

Arrrrrrgh!

**_Torture... torture... torture..._** Palpatine wailed. He was god of the Galactic Empire. But what was he now? An anguished voice in a sea of many.

"You will pay for your for your betrayal Darth Vader..." he mumbled.

And when Palpatine made a promise, he delivered.


	2. Chapter 2

This was death. That place he sent so many others to the day he became Vader. The force cradled him here. Protected him. Hovered over him. The afterlife was as endless as the universe itself, but he could reach out and feel the walls and bend him with his mind. Here, there were no rules. He could love who he wanted, hate whomever he wanted. But he emptied his mind and his heart of everything except revenge.

I trusted you," Anakin mumbled, staring into the raging skies of purgatory.

It was a mixture of heaven and hell. Heaven because there was nothing. Hell because there was no one. Padme waited somewhere in Force Heaven for him. But he held no powers there. He could not pierce its walls, he could not see the other side. He couldn't even find it. Nevertheless, he could feel her. He wanted to feel her. But, must suffer for his sins. His foolishness, for his own demons.

He was a demon. He'd remain a demon until the evil one had been slayed. _"That's what you want? Isn't it?" _He called out, speaking to The Force.

It didn't answer. It never did.

A wind blew hair about his head. How long had it been since he felt wind? Since he tasted moisture in the air? Since he felt rain falling upon his head?

In Purgatory there was endless night, warm air, dead trees, and ocean skies that rained fire into the meadows where the only grass that grew were the broken bones of the dead, and the flowers that spouted from its soil was of blood and torn flesh. Force Hell, he imagined, was even worse. But how to get there?

He walked toward a bridge on what felt like fingers. Every step he took agonized him, for the voices were pained. This, he felt in the Force were the fingers of those he'd crushed, those who died by his hands. This meant, the millions of souls that suffered when the Death Star was destroyed Alderaan. Those he killed during the Jedi Purge, including the children. He was their evil one. Would they slay him to be free of turmoil? Would he let them? Would Palpatine's destruction end their suffering? He did want it to end – he, he, didn't want to kill them. He was mad, he didn't know what he was doing. He felt tears for all of his dead ones.

I need answers he called out. Can I undo the wrong I have done? Luke would know if he were here. But how many fathers must learn from their sons?

Anakin walked. And soon, the cries came to end to his relief as came to a bridge of light. Beyond it were two paths.

One path led to Force Heaven, where Padme waited.

The other to Force Hell, where he would give Palpatine his due.


	3. The Power of Choice

Anakin stood, staring ahead as a cool mist rose from the sides of the bridge. He thought of Musafar and the fog from the lava banks twenty seven awful years ago and suddenly– fear gripped him. He remembered what it was like to burn. To burn in agony over every awful decision he'd made. Of Padme collapsing to the ground, her lungs collapsing inside of her under his hand, even with the child they conceived together within her. Of his mind blank with pain and his body limbless and writhing in turmoil as Obi-Wan Kenobi collected his lightsaber and climbed the black sand to safety away from the emperor's approaching ship. He could have used what was left of his powers to force pull his former master to die with him, but not even the man who sent him to that awful place without arms or legs deserved such agony.He would not wish it upon his worse enemy, except perhaps the man whose plotting and deception led him to such an undesirable predicament. Hell? He'd already seen it, felt it, as it seared the flesh from his bones.As it crept up his spine and caught to his hair and scorched the strands until they burned to flakes of black ash that pouf fed over his head as a breeze carried them away. He had nothing to fear.

As Anakin walked toward what would be the path to hell, he could almost see Obi-Wan Kenobi twenty-seven years ago in the fog. Was it merely a memory? Or was it real?

Hands and faces of the dead rose from the bridge and wailed. Anakin found it difficult to walk over them. But the figure in the distance remained, and now, he was certain this was no memory.

"Lightsaber," Anakin said, commanding the force to relinquish a weapon to his hand.

The force, now in balance, also commanded a lightsaber to Obi-Wan's open palm.

Anakin pressed the small oval button on the hilt of his weapon and a beam materialized. To his astonishment, it was still red. Obi-Wan's lightsaber was blue. Even in death, a Jedi still...

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan called, using his "teaching" voice.

Anakin sighed. Power swelled within him and surged through his spirit. He would crush Obi-Wan.

"You won't stop me, Master. My powers are unlimited now."

Obi-Wan shook his head. His eyes gave Anakin that look – disappointment – a look he gave him many times throughout Anakin's years as his pupil. The look he gave him on Musafar as he stood atop a platform and announced his failure in training him.

Obi-Wan lowered the lightsaber and threw it aside. "I've no wish to stop you, Anakin."

Obi-Wan raised a hand and the voices, gnashing of teeth, and hands reaching from the floor of the bridge disappeared. Even in spirit world, death still managed to fill Anakin with dread. As Vader, he thought he conquered the fear. But it was still there. He still hadn't learned to let go.

Obi-Wan approached even as Anakin's lightsaber crackled with a lust for blood and fallen spirit. He touched his former pupil's arm, the one he severed those years ago on Musafar. Seeing Anakin a whole man again gave him a bit of peace.

Anakin pressed the button on his lightsaber and the red beam disintegrated. "Why are you here?" Anakin asked.

"To tell you what you will need to know," Obi-Wan answered. "The path you take now, will shape your eternity. Choose wisely," he cautioned.

"Your teachings are useless to me now." The muscles in Anakin's shoulders flexed. Obi-Wan nodded.

"You've reached the zenith of your powers, Anakin. When I look at you I see all the things you could have been. But the wisdom, Anakin, isn't there...you still haven't learned to let go...

Anakin's eyes dropped. "I know, Master. I've lost so much._ Lost... _All the things I couldn't let go of follow me in the afterlife. My soul is tortured. It won't rest. Not until Palpatine has paid for all he's done."

"But revenge isn't the Jedi way," Obi-Wan replied.

Anakin smiled. _Obi-Wan called him a Jedi. _

"I trust you will do the right thing. That I haven't failed you, and the good within you lives. I know it does, Luke proved it to you, Anakin. You just need to believe it."

"Master, I'm sorry for all I've done. I realize you've always had my best interest at heart."

"None of that matters now. What's done is done." His mind flashed back to Musafar and Anakin on the bank of the lava consumed by its fire – agony seized him, but he released it.

"What will happen to them?"

"The voices and the images you see in purgatory is your conscience... guilt. The innocent wait in heaven where they belong. Anakin, only you know where the path of redemption lies. Let the Force guide you. What happens in the material world where we once dwelled is only temporary. This is your eternity. The guilt you feel means your soul wasn't fully corrupted by the emperor. The goodness within you will serve you on this journey. As long as you don't forget it."

Anakin nodded.

"I must go now. Be well my friend. And may the force be with you."

Obi-Wan pulled him into an embrace and slowly, Anakin's arms rose to wrap around his friend. It was as though a dam had broken and suddenly the love he felt as a boy poured forth. Obi-Wan held his face in his hands, eyes twinkling. "See you on the other side," he muttered, then _faded away. _

Nevertheless, a voice at the back of Anakin's mind beckoned him forth, "Your path will lead to me, where you will kneel."

And he knew, the voice belonged to the emperor.


	4. Padme

Anakin inched forward.

Obi-Wan told him he'd have to choose wisely. That the path he took would be permanent. He'd already chosen the dark side once, and that was the rest of his physical life. Was revenge against the emperor worth an eternity in hell? Could he trust his own judgment despite how many times it failed him when he chose to go against his Jedi teachings? Being a Jedi meant nothing in the spiritual after life. So would the canon even apply? This was about him. This was about Palpatine. This was about closure. Something he never fully had in his physical life.

On the other hand, Anakin considered what awaited him in Force Heaven… peace…redemption, Padme. But how could he move forward knowing Emperor Palpatine wasn't going to pay for everything he'd done to the Republic and the Jedi Order? How was that fair to anyone?

The bridge crumbled behind Anakin as he walked to the paths that waited him. There was no turning back now. Anakin knew he had more than earned his time in hell and that he wasn't even close to being worthy of Heaven. But the opportunity to be with Padme had presented itself, and yet, he could only think of revenge. He would have to work his way through his confusion to understand what the Force asked of him. Obi-Wan would know. But why couldn't he figure it out?

_The wisdom was still not there_. Palpatine planted the seeds of confusion in him as a child. As a result, he could never fully trust his own thoughts – not even when the Force gave him direction. This was how he lost the battle to Obi-Wan on Musafar. Instinct told him not to jump but that voice in the back of his mind, the one that instructed him to do _dark and terrible things _whispered the opposite and he obeyed it to disastrous results. It was always the shadow. The Emperor's voice inside of his head. Anakin needed the shadow to die before goodness could fully live within him again. Thus, he felt motivated to move forward.

Anakin felt remnants of the bridge collapse behind him as he came to a heavily wooded forest. To his left was a road. Above it, sunshine filtered through the leaves of towering trees and enveloped the winding but rocky path in light. To his right was another road where the trees slumped over and branches clung to the ground. There, vines coiled and snaked toward the sky. Walking into it would be like walking into a dark cave.

Anakin searched his soul. He longed to feel the light upon his face. The wind through his hair, warmth in his heart… But felt too unsettled. Too uneasy, like there was something he needed to do, or as though his work wasn't done. So he moved toward the dark and winding path, his feet crushing the vines beneath him…

Then he saw it. A mesmerizing glow on the other side. It beckoned him forth, away from the darkness. He walked toward it. As he neared the path, the creature floated toward him, face aglow. The light emanated from it so that he could barely make out a face.

He blinked in wonderment, "are you an angel?" he asked.

And slowly he could see the face through the fiery light that emanated from it… "Padme," he muttered, eyes wetting. "I've missed you so much," he said, his anger at Palpatine instantaneously forgotten. Then he suddenly remembered why he asked her this on Tattoine when he was a little boy. He'd already forseen this part of their future, except he was too young to understand his vision.

The fire about her cooled and she stood before him, her feet touching the ground on her toes, hands touching his face the way she did so many years ago. His face warmed, his heart – finally, uncaged.

But when he looked into her eyes he saw that they were filled worry. He then remembered an earlier plea to run away with her, to go and raise their child on _Naboo_.

_If_ _only…_ he mused. He stood at the edge of hell and once again she pleaded with him – to turn back.

"Talk to me, Padme… I still love you," Anakin said. "I- I- I'll run away with you, you were right," he pleaded.

But Padme's hands dropped to her sides. He felt her drifting away from him again, down the path toward whatever summoned her. He reached for her, but she fell from his gasp and faded away.

Anakin longed to hear her voice again and wondered why she didn't speak to him. Why did she leave?

It was then that the Force whispered an understanding: **_You've already chosen the path to hell_. **

This voice of interminable knowledge sounded to Anakin's ears like Qui Gon Jin.

"When did I choose?" he raged. "This is—unfair!"

The light on the path before him died. He fell to his kneesand his shoulders slumped forth. "Haven't I paid enough? Haven't I suffered enough for everything I've done wrong?" he whimpered.


	5. Moment of Clarity

Anakin stood. The fact that he couldn't be with Padme only made him madder. As it always did.

He felt his lightsaber glowing bright red in his hand and wondered how it got there. He walked toward the darkened path and cut through the vines with his weapon. "Be weary Emperor, for I am coming," he commanded.

In the force he felt a presence. Then he heard a lightsaber buzzing. He walked forth into the cave and found no light – but complete and utter darkness.

A purplish glow in the shadows reached his eyes, and suddenly, it blazed toward him in a fury of whirring hot light.

He deflected it and felt a wind as the figure blew into a darkened tree-top.

Anakin adjusted his eyes and could now see into the blackness, the face of Mace Windu. A nightmare walking, blazing, furrowing out of the tree toward him and "Crack!" a boot smashing into Anakin's stunned face.

Anakin flipped backward, swung his weapon forcing Mace to jump over it as he nearly took off his leg. This time, there was no element of surprise. Mace didn't get the chance to fight back when Anakin took his arm that horrible day, but now, he would show the "chosen one" what would have happened had his senses not been fully occupied by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious.

Anakin advanced, lightsaber swinging toward Mace Windu in a rage. But the Master returned the gesture, unleashing all of Vaapad's dark fury upon him. .

Mace grabbed Anakin by the collar of his dark leather lapel, pulled him close then sent an elbow smashing into his face.

Anakin gave him a head butt and a knee to the chest, then force-pushed him back, but Mace bounced from the wood of a nearby tree and back-flipped over him. A sabering contest against Mace Windu was pretty much a loss, even against a master of Djem So. Vaapad harnessed the dark side and they stood in the blackness of it with only their sabers for light. Dark brown eyes challenged dark blue. Anakin called upon the force. In a fury of monumental proportions he drew himself into in a mountainous blue orb of powerful sonar energy and blasted the Master into oblivion.

Anakin felt the force flowing through him -- and powerful it was. His hands trembled, the red beam too unsteady to even hold in a defensive stance. He heard Mace Windu's boots as they slammed onto the ground and knew the Master landed on his feet.

Suddenly, a fist moved through the darkness and connected with Anakin's face. The red lightsaber left his hand and at once, fell into Mace Windu's. He stood before him, purple lightsaber in his right, red in his left.

To Anakin, his options were clear. He'd gone easy on Mace Windu – after all, he betrayed him so many years ago. But if he continued to block his way, he'd send more than a sonar blast this time.

But instead of pursuing the battle, Mace tossed the red lightsaber back to Anakin.

He caught it.

"Now you will finish what you started," Mace ordered. And like a bat into the blackness of night, he was gone.

What did he mean?

And this time, the force whispered again: **_To finish what you started and balance the force. _**

It was then that Anakin finally understood what he needed to do.


	6. Vader

The cave was cool and hollow. Somehow, Anakin expected hell to be hot. The fact that it was cold made him feel uncertain. Terrified. It smelled of death there.

Bats winged by his head and he remembered Mace Windu and expected him to appear among them for another battle. The duel was much needed practice. He was only beginning to learn what he could do with his powers. The force flowing through him felt good. He felt invigorated by it, alive.

He sensed the emperor and muscles flexed. "I can feel you…" Anakin mumbled, chest swelling with rage.

Then he sensed someone else…Before him an aged figure rested on a rock with pointed ears and green pruned-skin.

"Master Yoda," he said.

The little green Jedi nodded in his old wise way and pointed into the deepening darkness with his cane.

"Remind me of Luke. Much like your son, you are. Determined."

"I would say, he reminds you of me. I was here first, after all."

"Yes," the Master nodded. "Caution you I will, just as I have cautioned him… if further you go, be wary."

"I'm not afraid," he answered, chest swelling.

"You will be…" Yoda answered. "You will be…"

Anakin walked into the darkness of the cave. A cold mist blew from his lips which turned blue from the freezing air. He heard the whirring of the lightsaber. He raised his own in an aggressive stance.

Yoda shook his head and faded into the blackness.

Anakin felt something move and swung blindly into the darkness with nothing but the red glow of his lightsaber to light his way.

He swung again and heard deep raspy breathing "Chooooosh Shiiiiiiiiiiiish… Choooosh… Shiiiiiiiiih…"

He paused. "You're playing tricks," he observed.

"No trick this is," came Yoda's voice. "Your destiny this has become," he finished.

Anakin stepped forward and a cage closed in about him. He closed his eyes. He felt like a mummy with his arms stuck at the sides. He wriggled and pushed them forth. And when he opened his eyes again, the darkness had turned red with computations and coordinates spelled out before him like a computer screen. He inhaled and heard the sound of his own exaggerated breathing … "Chooooooosh… Shiiiiiiiiiish…"

Fear seized him. Darkness consumed him. Then he felt the heat of flames upon his back…

"What anger has done to you, this is…" Yoda scolded. "In you, it lives, still."

"Master Yoda!" Anakin wailed as he relived the memory of flames crawling up his spine.

He shuddered and then there was silence. He regrouped. _Must not give in to fear... mustn't feel so lonely in here. I wish I were in your arms, Padme. _

_But love gave way to anger as the reality sank in. The suit was a reminder of the prison he lived in for twenty - six years. _He took a step and his leg clamped down as though it was robotic again.

Could he go into battle this way?

His powers were still as strong as they were only moments before. Why did Yoda trick him into wearing the suit? It only made him angrier, wanting revenge even more. Perhaps Yoda liked it better when he was suffering! Anakin gasped as rage crept up his back instead of fear.

Then he heard the Emperor's cackle . He was taunting him. The lights on the vest of his Vader uniform blinked erratically.

"If I must leave the after life and Padme, I will not go alone.We will die together," he announced. "Nothing will stop my wrath. It is your destiny," he commanded, as though the emperor stood right before him.

His legs were heavy, but he marched onward, into battle.


	7. WE MEET AT LAST

Anakin's suit made the journey slower than it needed to be. His body temperature went from cold to hot, hot to cold , perhaps the temperature of hell itself changed. But he'd never know, he couldn't feel the direct air. Only what the suit let in.

Emperor Palpatine stood on a bridge watching as Anakin approached in his Vader suit and helmet. He smiled at the cumbersome steps he took, and remembered the empty promises Anakin made of defeating him. The emperor put his hand over his mouth and cackled loudly, pointing at him with a quivering old finger.

"Come to get revenge, have you?" he laughed again. "Even in hell you are worthless."

The emperor threw his head back and laughed. Waves of lava swept under the bridge he stood upon. It rattled, and the emperor held on.

"That the best you can do?" a spark left his fingers, but made it no further than the bridge.

Anakin watched him through the Vader helmet, through the red-glowing computations he made of the emperor's distance. His lightsaber rose to his shoulder. It was heavy. The suit made everything heavier.

"If you weren't so feeble and nimble-brained I'd force you to serve me in hell. But, I'd rather destroy you. I should have watched as you sizzled at the bank of the lava shore on Musafar. You pathetic fool. You ruined my dynasty. Luke rebuilt the Jedi Order – all because of you and your stupidity," the emperor admonished.

He walked toward Anakin, his robe dragging behind him. Evil lurked behind the old man's toothless grin.

"SO? You've yet to make good on your promise, Anakin. You were always pathetic. A worthless child slave, a pathetic Jedi, and you were even worse as a Sith. I chaste to call you a Sith Lord, you pathetic fool. For your betrayal, you will pay."

Sith Lightening crackled around his hand then exploded from his finger tips. The blue bolt hit Anakin square in the chest but only sparked around the perimeters of the black Vader suit.

Palpatine's hands dropped to the side as he stared in utter bewilderment. Vader's suit began to crack from the head down. He smiled then laughed, his hooting rising with the prospect of Anakin being so easily defeated. So worthless he was indeed! His potential destroyed by him, his future, his wife, his kids, and when he died he even took the idiot with him.

The Vader suit cracked down the face of the mask and a bright light shone from his head growing into a even brighter orb of light as it split the blinking yellow, red and blue flashing panel on his chest apart. The light continued to split down his stomach, his pelvis, and both of his legs. By then, the glow had grown so powerful that Emperor Palpatine could only close his eyes and hope he wasn't blinded by it. He whimpered, then blinked.

The light swelled and pulsed like a beating heart until the suit exploded like a nebula burst with Anakin standing like an ancient statue at the center as the black suit fell from around him, muscles amped, lightsaber in his hand, eyes fierce, except for the crystal-like tear trickling down his cheek.

The emperor pretended to be his friend. Pretended to care about him, pretended to dote on him, but in reality turned him against his wife, his friends, his colleagues, then tricked him into killing them all with a lie about saving his wife. There was no end to the emperor's betrayal and lies, and it hurt because so much had been lost.

The emperor followed the tear as it rolled down Anakin's cheek and dripped from his chin in a free fall until it splattered on the toe of Anakin's booth.

"_Pathetic… _why are you crying?" He asked without a hint of pity.

"The past," Anakin mumbled. "For trusting you."

The emperor cackled. "You cry like a boy and mourn the past like an old woman?"

Anakin smiled. "They're tears of happiness."

The emperor's brow touched his forehead? "Happiness?"_ Anakin? Happy?_ He scoffed.

"Your spirit death will bring me infinite joy."

A mountainous blue orb emanated from the Jedi.

As it reached the emperor, his eyes opened wide in fear and awe. "Anakin? What are you doing?"

A trembling of the force brought Emperor Palpatine to his knees. "Anakin, _old friend_?" he muttered in the voice of a true weasel.

The orb pulsated and throbbed – afraid, the emperor covered his face with a hand…


	8. ULTRA VIOLENT

(Cont'd)

The force blast would be powerful enough to destroy Palpatine. But a quick and painless death would be too easy. Anakin needed him to suffer.

He let the orb flow over the man but pulled back before it could kill him. The blast peeled the outer most layer of the emperor's skin from his flesh and the old man wailed.

"Anakin..." he gasped. "I was always your friend... I- I- helped you, kept your secrets when you killed the Sand People... when you married against the code of the Jedi Order-"

"You call that helping me?"

Palpatine tried to stand but winced. Every part of his body ached. He reached into his robe and pulled a lightsaber. It was as red as Anakin's, but longer. "I don't want to fight you Anakin, we've always been the best of friends."

He stood and flesh peeled from his face and dropped to his feet. Anakin walked toward him, a maniacal grin spread across his face. He swung his lightsaber and the old man tried to deflect it. But Anakin back-kicked him in the face, whirled his lightsaber around once more, and lopped off the Emperor's ear.

"Yes, best of friends...I'll be sure to write in my diary about our terrible fight." Anakin back smacked the Sith Lord and rotted teeth flew from his mouth. Anakin hated those teeth. Hated when he smiled.

The man tried to blast him with Sith lightening, but Anakin deflected it with his blade. He force-pushed the emperor back, ran toward him, then lopped off his other ear.

The emperor gasped, then wailed. "Skywalker. _Arrgh _now you will feel my wrath, boy!"

"What was that? I didn't hear you," Anakin mocked.

The old man swung his lightsaber then thrusted it forth in a stabbing motion. The red blades smashed, the impact blowing him back a step. He released Sith lightening, but Anakin returned it with a green electrical current of his own - Emerald Lightening.

"This is what you feared, isn't it?" Anakin scowled.

The emperor buckled under the Emerald lightening. Anakin merely toyed with the old man. He could kill him easily, but wanted to play a bit longer.

"Anakin... we've been, huhhhh through so much together!" Palpatine wailed.

Anakin released the lightening, whirled his lightsaber around and lopped the man's right arm off from the shoulder down. Palpatine screamed.

"Yes, and now things seem to be falling apart."

Palpatine raced toward the bridge, lava still flowing beneath it.

"All too easy," Anakin muttered. He raised a hand and summoned the force to rock the bridge. It warbled side to side under his power. Palpatine rocked and swayed, nearly falling into the lava lake.

Anakin raised the wave, tempted to douse the man with liquid fire.

"Now you understand the power of the dark side, Anakin."

The wave fell back into the lake and the bridge ceased to sway.

"The sheer beauty and magnificence of another's suffering my friend. Slowly but surely you will destroy the last of what was good in you. I will live through your rage and shall have eternal life."

"I'm not like you," Anakin said.

"I enjoyed watching you suffer," the emperor taunted. "It was your pain that gave me unlimited power."

Anakin pulled Palpatine into a force choke, impelling him to descend the bridge.

Ribs popped and the emperor winced. "Do it!" he choked.

Anakin flashed gritted teeth at the man. A blow of the force and a major bone in the emperor's leg snapped in half. He wailed but laughed at the same time, seeming to get off on his own pain.

"Kill me! _Kill us_, Anakin. I'll be back, you've already seen to it."

"No," the Jedi said. He saw his son, lightsaber poised over his head, pulling back from a final death blow - and remembered.

Luke had shown him something he'd forgotten early in life – mercy.

As much as he wanted the emperor to suffer, a true test of wisdom and growth was to leave the man alive. To leave his destruction to the will of the Force.

Anakin released Palpatine, setting him at the edge of the bridge.

"I won't kill you," Anakin said. "You're already dead."

He walked away but could hear the emperor cackling...

"You haven't seen the last of me, _Skywalker_."

But it was the will of the force that sent a wave of lava hellfire crashing onto the bank to melt away the bridge, and an errant spark that caught the emperor's clothes and set him ablaze.

Anakin turned his back and wished he was the one without ears as the flames consumed the evil one.

He reached forth, summoning the force as he covered himself with a blue orb to protect his spirit-body from the blazing red sky of hell as it shifted to a blanket of white light...


	9. After the Storm

(Cont'd)

Suddenly, the Force walked with him. Hand in hand, like a child with his father to the edge of an all white room.

Anakin looked around. Before him was a white chair. Someone sat with their back toward him. He sensed the presence, and knew who it was.

Things were slowly being revealed – in his mind like new or repressed memories – and he understood.

"Your purpose," the voice said, "was to suffer for the good of the galaxy."

The voice belonged to Qui Gon Jin. He spun around, stroking his goatee as he turned.

"The confusion, your life, you were never meant to understand what was happening to you, or to see through the darkness."

And with pristine clarity, Anakin reflected, and suddenly listened to Palpatine's words, the lies so clear in his mind he almost felt embarrassed for not seeing it then. But Qui Gon told him it was never meant for him to understand.

"It was meant for you to balance the force here in the after life."

"Are you my father?" Anakin asked.

Qui-Gon thought of the boy he raised - Obi-Wan Kenobi, the surrogate he set in place for Anakin.

"Watching you suffer was difficult. It was the will of the force that set you ablaze Anakin. You killed children."

Anakin turned his head.

"I heard your voice when I killed the Sand People. Why did my mother die?"

"She didn't suffer, Anakin. But she held on, until she could see your face one last time."

"Palpatine said his master created me by manipulating midichlorians. Are you telling me that was also a lie?"

Qui-Gon nodded. "Anakin, it was I, who showed your Masters how to return from the dead. I mastered eternal life long before my death - I gave myself to Darth Maul's blade because I had the gift - to create or give eternal life. Falling to Darth Maul's blade was the only way to help them see the destruction and the corruption of the Republic by the Sith. Secrets were kept from you Anakin. I kept them from you, deliberately to set the counter-plot against the Sith in motion. But you overstepped your ignorance, falling to the dark side. But I knew you'd return. Anakin, you did well in the end. The end result is what matters."

"My purpose was to suffer for the good of the galaxy? To be Vader's prison for two decades without my own arms and legs. To torture my daughter - it's too much, Master Qui-Gon. But I understand it."

"I feel as though I was the one who tortured you. I created the fog in your mind to lead you astray. The emperor would have done more evil in the after life and would have grown more powerful if you hadn't destroyed him. Anger and darkness led you down this path, as much as we hate it, without your anger, you'd have chosen the light and the emperor would have been able to reign in hell."

Qui-Gon stood, held Anakin by the arms. "I'm proud of you, son" he said, and embraced him.

"What about Padme?" Anakin asked.

Qui-Gon pointed and the heavens opened.

Anakin turned. He stood before the wooded forest again and Qui-Gon was gone. Before him, light envelopedthe winding path and his heart beat wildly at the sight of his beloved Padme Amidala. She floated toward him and he raced to her.

They collided in an explosion of goodness and light, and for the first time in his life, he felt peace. The darkness had gone.

"Anakin, I missed you so much," she gasped.

He spun her around and her dress flowed about her, like a princess in a fairytale.

"I'm so sorry, Padme..."

She silenced him with a finger over his lips. "I understand. It was your destiny, Anakin. I only wish tosee my children."

"I'm sorry for taking them away from you. You'll see them one day," he answered.

"What if they choose the dark side?"

"They won't. Someday they'll be with us in heaven...our grandchildren too."

She smiled, because they looked so young...

Padme and Anakin kissed... and they kissed... and this, was _their _heaven.


End file.
